To the Editor:
Chris Bateman's response to Meir Kohn's unjustified polemic on the uselessness of the Humanities and some Social Sciences ("Beyond Truth," May 20) certainly made a number of important points about why Kohn is misled in his assumption that the Humanities and related fields have "no truth or knowledge to impart -- only attitude."
What Mr. Bateman missed is the irony that it was an economist defining truth: any serious and honest look at the current situation of our nation would quickly lead one to the conclusion that those most concerned with dollar bills and the bottom line tend to be those with an almost complete disregard for the truth. The Humanities are essential, not just beacuse art is a vital aspect of our humanity, but because only by examining the richness and complexity of truth through philosophy, poetry and art can we hope to keep our society even remotely concerned with the most important questions we can ask about the nature of truth.
